With a perfectly crackly and shiny top, these Brown Butter Caramel Blondies are loaded with flavor, starting with the caramel chips, chocolate chunks, and the deep notes of nutty flavor from the brown butter! They're salty, sweet, with a hint of espresso powder. They're the perfect blondie when you're craving a treat.
These Brown Butter Blondies are adapted from my base Chocolate Chunk Blondies recipe and inspired by The Floral Apron's Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're made using Caramel Sea Salt Baking Chips from Trader Joe's, and they're perfect for these Salted Caramel Blondies! They're sweet with hints of salt and they pair well with the brown butter and the hints of espresso powder. I added a little chocolate chunks to the blondies because the pools of dark chocolate create a balanced flavor with the sweetness from the caramel chips.
If you love a good brown butter blondie, try my Biscoff Blondies, Pistachio Blondies, or Almond Frangipane Blondies.
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♥ Why You'll Love This Recipe
Fudgy - Just like all my blondies recipes, these Caramel Blondies are incredibly chewy and fudgy and melt in your mouth!
Brown Butter - Who doesn't love a good brown butter dessert? The added notes of brown butter create an even nuttier flavor with a deep hints of caramel.
Caramel Chips - The caramel chips add the best of both worlds: sweet & salty flavor!
Easy & Quick - It takes absolutely no time to make this recipe. You'll have blondies in your mouth in less than an hour!
📝 Ingredient Notes
A full list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions are located in the recipe card at the end of the post.
Butter: For this recipe, I use brown butter, which is melting the butter, than continuing to cook it to brown. This gives the blondies a rich and nutty flavor.
Brown sugar: This recipe uses all brown sugar, which cuts down on the sweetness a little, but it also gives the blondies more of a chew.
Eggs: I use one whole egg and one egg yolk.
Vanilla extract: 2 whole teaspoons add a lot more flavor!
Salt: balances out the sweetness and adds more flavor.
Espresso powder: I love using espresso in chocolate treats because it enhances the chocolate flavor.
Flour: All purpose flour works best with this recipe.
Dark chocolate: I use 70% dark Lindt chopped chocolate for this recipe. It's pretty interchangeable with semi-sweet chocolate. Feel free to use any brand, even chocolate chips.
Caramel Chips: Adding caramel chips creates a balance of sweet and salty and it pairs well. You can use any type of caramel chips you like.
See recipe card for quantities.
🍴Special Equipment
Kitchen Scale: It's so important to use a kitchen scale for accurate results.
Baking Pan: My favorite 8 inch Square USA pan is from USA pan. It has straight edges, bakes evenly, and never fails. I highly recommend purchasing a good quality baking pan for your bakes.
Mixing bowls: I love using glass Mixing Bowls when making batters and doughs.
⇄ Substitutions
Melted butter - If you don't like brown butter, you can just melt the butter. Instead of 10 tbsp, you'll melt 8 (½ cup of butter).
Chocolate - Use any type of chocolate you like, chips or chopped chocolate bars. Or you can leave it out.
Omit espresso - Don't like coffee? Leave it out.
✨ Variations
Nuts - Add toasted pecans for an extra crunch.
Fruit - You can add some dried or freeze-dried fruit to the batter.
Caramel - Drizzle some homemade caramel sauce once done baking.
𓎩 Step-by-Step Instructions
A few instruction photos to help you nail this recipe every time.
Melt the butter
Melt butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Stir the butter to make sure it melts evenly. Once the butter is completely melted, it will start to foam up. Continue stirring the butter. As it cooks, it will start to change into a deeper color. This could take 6-8 minutes.
Brown the butter
You'll start to notice a nutty aroma and the butter will begin to have brown specs at the bottom of the pan. The entire process of browning butter from start to finish should not take more than 10 minutes on medium heat.
Once butter is browned, pour it into a heat proof bowl and set it aside to cool for about 5 or 10 minutes.
Mix the brown sugar
In a medium bowl, add cooled brown butter and sugar and mix using a spatula until combined.
Add the egg + vanilla
Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined.
🎩Trick: Using a spatula instead of a hand mixer reduces the chances of over mixing, but once your ingredients come together, stop mixing.
Dry Ingredients
Add the salt and espresso powder and mix. Then add the flour and mix until almost all streaks are gone.
Dry Ingredients
Lastly, add the chocolate and caramel chips and mix until just all incorporated. Do not over mix.
💡 Hint: Use a light colored metal baking pan. This will allow the blondies to bake evenly.
Bake
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, top with extra bits of chocolate and caramel chips, and bake for 20-25 minutes. You'll see the sides get a little light brown and the middle will have puffed up some. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Don't over bake.
💬 FAQ
Brown butter adds a rich, nutty flavor to blondies, enhancing their sweetness with a warm, toasty depth. It also contributes to a tender, moist texture, making the blondies more flavorful and decadent.
You don't. You can use melted butter instead. Reduce it to 8 tablespoon of melted butter.
To get a gooey blondie, slightly underbake them so the center stays soft and fudgy. Using brown sugar, extra butter, and an extra egg yolk will also help create a moist, chewy texture.
💡Pro Tips
Measure Flour Correctly - As always, with any recipe, use a kitchen scale, as it is the best form of measuring your ingredients. If you don't have a kitchen scale, fluff your flour, scoop flour with a spoon into a measuring cup and level off.
Don't burn the brown butter: Once the brown butter starts to pop, foam, and form specs at the bottom of the pan, remove it. Otherwise you could burn it and it will end up tasting bitter.
Don't over mix: Using a spatula instead of a hand mixer reduces the chances of over mixing, but once your ingredients come together, stop mixing.
Don't over bake: Start checking the caramel blondies at 20 minutes.
Parchment paper: To avoid sticking, make sure to line the pan with parchment paper.
Light-colored pan: Use a light colored metal baking pan. They help cook evenly and don't cook too fast.
❄ Storage
Store these Salted Caramel Blondies at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
📖 Recipe Card
Brown Butter Caramel Blondies
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoon (140 g) unsalted butter see notes
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar packed
- 1 (1) egg + 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 2 teaspoon (8 g) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) salt
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 g) espresso powder
- 1¼ cup (150 g) all purpose flour
- 2 oz (56.7 g) chocolate, chopped (chips works too) Use 60-70% dark chocolate (or semi-sweet chips) - you can add more if you like
- ½ cup (118.29 g) caramel chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
For the Brown Butter
- Melt butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Stir the butter to make sure it melts evenly. Once the butter is completely melted, it will start to foam up. Continue stirring the butter. As it cooks, it will start to change into a deeper color. This could take 6-8 minutes. You'll start to notice a nutty aroma and the butter will begin to have brown specs at the bottom of the pan. The entire process of browning butter from start to finish should not take more than 10 minutes on medium heat.10 tablespoon unsalted butter
- Once butter is browned, pour it into a heat proof bowl and set it aside to cool for about 5 or 10 minutes.
For the Blondies
- Mix the batter: In a medium bowl, add cooled brown butter and sugar and mix using a spatula until combined. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the salt and espresso powder and mix. Then add the flour and mix until almost all streaks are gone. Lastly, add the chocolate and caramel chips and mix until just all incorporated. Do not over mix.1 cup brown sugar, 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon espresso powder, 1¼ cup all purpose flour, 2 oz chocolate, chopped (chips works too), ½ cup caramel chips
- Bake the Blondies: Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, top with extra bits of chocolate and caramel chips, and bake for 20-25 minutes. You'll see the sides get a little light brown and the middle will have puffed up some. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Don't over bake.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing.
Notes
- Depending on what type of butter you use, you'll end up with different amount of butter once browned. I tend to use butter that is higher in fat percentage, so I end up with around 115-120g of butter left after browning. If I'm using butter that contains more water content, then I'll end up with less. It's ok if you end up with less. I've tried these blondies with different types of butter and they end up delicious regardless.
Alyssa says
So good and fudgy! The caramel chips and dark chocolate really worked well together, and everyone loved these!